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PRO*^ 2020 National Emissions Inventory Technical Support Document: Waste Disposal - Open Burning - Residential Household Waste ------- ------- EP A-454/R-23 -001 ii March 2023 2020 National Emissions Inventory Technical Support Document: Waste Disposal - Open Burning - Residential Household Waste U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards Air Quality Assessment Division Research Triangle Park, NC ------- Contents List of Tables i 35 Waste Disposal - Open Burning - Residential Household Waste 35-1 35.1 Sector Descriptions and Overview 35-1 35.2 EPA-developed estimates 35-1 35.2.1 Activity data 35-1 35.2.2 Allocation procedure 35-3 35.2.3 Emission factors 35-3 35.2.4 Controls 35-4 35.2.5 Emissions 35-4 35.2.6 Example calculations 35-4 35.2.7 Improvements/Changes in the 2020 NEI 35-5 35.2.8 Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands 35-5 35.3 References 35-5 List of Tables Table 35-1: Annual RHW generated (tons/person) in the U.S. in 2015 35-2 Table 35-2: Sample calculations for CO and VOC emissions from open burning 35-4 l ------- 35 Waste Disposal - Open Burning - Residential Household Waste 35.1 Sector Descriptions and Overview This source category includes several types of intentional burning for waste disposal purposes, except for agricultural purposes. This source category includes open burning of municipal solid waste, land clearing debris, and different types of yard waste. Open burning of yard waste is the purposeful burning of leaf and brush species in outdoor areas, and emission estimates for leaf and brush waste burning are a function of the amount of waste burned per year. Open burning of land clearing debris is the purposeful burning of debris, such as trees, shrubs, and brush, from the clearing of land for the construction of new buildings and highways. Emission estimates from open burning of land clearing debris are a function of the amount of material or fuel subject to burning per year. Open burning of residential household waste (RHW) is the purposeful burning of RHW in outdoor areas. Emission estimates for RHW burning are a function of the amount of waste burned per year. 35.2 EPA-developed estimates The calculations for estimating the emissions from the burning of residential household waste (RHW) involve first estimating the amount of combustible waste generated in each county. The amount of waste generated in the U.S. is available from the EPA report, Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: 2015 Fact Sheet [ref 1], The amount of county-level RHW burned is estimated by calculating the per capita amount of RHW generated using the national data from EPA and multiplying that by the number of people likely to burn waste in each county. The number of people likely to burn waste is based on the rural population in each county from the 2010 census. To estimate emissions from RHW burning, pollutant emissions factors are multiplied by the amount of combustible waste burned. Emissions factors for PM, VOC, and HAPs are from the literature, whereas emissions factors for CO, NOX, and S02 are adjusted based on the ratio of total waste to combustible waste. 35.2.1 Activity data The activity data for this source category is the amount of RHW burned in each county, which is estimated using data the EPA report Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: 2015 Fact Sheet [ref 1], The report presents the total mass of waste generated from the residential and commercial sectors in the United States by type of waste for the calendar year 2015. Table 35-1 shows the total national-level waste generated by type and the corresponding per capita values. Per capita values of RHW subject to burning were developed based on EPA's total amount of waste generated in 2015. According to the 2010 version of the same EPA report, residential waste generation accounts for 55-65% of the total waste from the residential and commercial sectors [ref 2]; for the per capita calculation, the median value of 60% of total waste generated is assumed. This number is multiplied by the sums of the total and combustible waste, respectively. Each number is then divided by the U.S. population in 2020 (327 million people) [ref 3] to determine separate per capita 35-1 ------- values for total and combustible waste. Note that yard waste is not included in either per capita value as emissions from the burning of yard waste are calculated in separate SCCs. Icom^x 0.60 pr — /-i \ r^cwaste D l-W ry,us Where: yTw x 0.60 PCtwaste = p (2) rus P Ccwas te — Per capita value of combustible waste in the U.S., in tons per person PCtwaste — Per capita value of total waste in the U.S., in tons per person Com = Types of combustible waste (not including yard waste) T All types of waste (not including yard waste) W Annual weight of waste, in million tons Py,US = Population of the U.S. for year of inventory, in million people The per capita value of combustible household waste is estimated to be 0.354 tons generated per person in 2015, and the per capita value of total waste is 0.420 tons generated per person. Table 35-1: Annual RHW generated (tons/person) in the U.S. in 2015 Material Weight Generated (million tons) Total per person Combustible per person Paper 68.61 0.129 0.129 Glass 11.48 0.022 0 Metals Steel 17.69 0.033 0. 0 Aluminum 3.53 0.007 0.0 Other nonferrous 2.04 0.004 0.0 Total Metals 23.26 0.044 0.0 Plastics 32.25 0.061 0.061 Rubber/leather 8.21 0.015 0.015 Textiles 16.22 0.031 0.031 Wood 16.12 0.030 0.030 Other 4.44 0.008 0.008 Total Materials 180.59 0.340 0.274 Other wastes Food 38.40 0.072 0.072 Yard 34.50 0.0 0.0 Miscellaneous inorganic 3.97 0.007 0.007 Total Other 76.87 0.080 0.080 TOTAL RHW 257.46 0.420 0.354 Source: Reference 1, Table 1 As open burning of RHW is generally not practiced in urban areas, only the rural population in each county is assumed to practice open burning. The rural and urban populations are taken from 2010 U.S. 35-2 ------- Census data for each county [ref 4], It is assumed that 24% of the rural population burns RHW [ref 5], PBurnc = RPopc x 0.24 (3) Where: RPop,c = Rural population in county c in 2020 PBurric = Population likely to burn RHW in county c The number of people likely to burn waste in each county (from equation 3) is then used with the values of per capita household waste subject to burning (from equations 1 and 2) to determine the amount of household RHW burned. CWstc = Annual combustible RHW burned in county c, in tons PBurric = Population likely to burn in county c PCcwaste = Per capita value of combustible waste in the U.S., in tons per person 35.2.2 Allocation procedure National values for the amount of waste generated are distributed to the counties based on rural population, as described in Section 35.2.1.1. 35.2.3 Emission factors Emissions factors for open burning of RHW are provided in the "Wagon Wheel Emission Factor Compendium" on the 2020 NEl Supporting Data and Summaries site. The emissions factors for PM, VOC, and HAPs were developed based on the amount of combustible waste burned. Emissions factors for CO, NOX, and S02 were developed based on the amount of total waste burned; therefore, these factors need to be adjusted to be used with the values of combustible waste burned. This is accomplished by multiplying the emissions factors by a ratio of the total per capita waste to combustible per capita waste in 2015. CWstc = PBurnc x PC( (4) cwaste Where: (5) Where: Com T PCcwt PCtwc EFP ¦cwaste ¦twaste Emission factor for pollutant p, in lbs. of pollution per ton of waste burned Types of combustible waste (not including yard waste) All types of waste (not including yard waste) Per capita value of combustible waste in the US, in tons per person Per capita value of total waste in the US, in tons per person 35-3 ------- 35.2.4 Controls Controls for residential household waste burning are generally in the form of a ban on open burning of waste in a given municipality or county. However, literature suggests that burn bans are not 100% effective. It is therefore assumed that approximately 25% of the residents that may burn trash in the yard would burn waste even if a ban is in place. For counties that have burn bans, the assumption is applied by multiplying 0.25 by the annual waste burned. Currently no counties are assumed to have burn bans in place. If county c has a burn ban (6) Then CWstc = CWstc x 0.25 Where: CWstc = Annual combustible RHW burned in county c, in tons 35.2.5 Emissions The annual amount of combustible RHW burned in each county is multiplied by the emissions factors provided in the "Wagon Wheel Emission Factor Compendium" on the 2020 NEI Supporting Data and Summaries site. (7) Ep,c CWstc X EFp Com Where: Ep,c = Annual emissions of pollutant p in county c EFpfCom = Emission factor for pollutant p, in lbs. of pollution per ton of combustible waste burned CWstc = Annual combustible RHW burned in county c, in tons 35.2.6 Example calculations Table 35-2 lists sample calculations to determine the CO and VOC emissions from open burning. The values in these equations are demonstrating program logic and are not representative of any specific NEI year or county. Table 35-2: Sample calcu ations for CO and VOC emissions from open burning Eq. # Equation Values Result 1 Icom^X 0.60 188.22 million tons of waste x 0.60 0.354 tons combustible waste per person per year ' ^cwaste ~ D ry,us 318.85 millionpeople 2 TncWx 0.60 pn _ iJ'"u r ^twaste D rUS 222.96 million tons of waste x 0.60 318.85 millionpeople 0.420 tons total waste per person per year 3 PBurnc = RPopc x 0.24 22,921 people x 0.24 5,501 people likely to burn 35-4 ------- Eq. # Equation Values Result 4 CWstc = PBurnc X PCcwaste 5,501 people x 0.354 tons combustible waste per person 1,947.4 tons of combustible waste burned 5 t?t? t?t? w PCtwaste 1-'"p,Com ~ c'"p,T pr *^cwaste 0.42 tons per person 85 lbs. per ton x 0.354 tons per person 100.8 lbs. of CO per ton of combustible waste burned 6 If county c has a burn ban Then CWstc = CWstc x 0.25 N/A does not have a burn ban 7 Ep C CWstc X EFp Com 1,947.4 tons x 100.8 lbs. per ton 98.14 tons CO emissions from burning of RHW 1,947.4 tons x 8.46 lbs. per ton 8.23 tons VOC emissions from burning of RHW 35.2.7 Improvements/Changes in the 2020 NEI No changes were made to methods for the 2020 NEI. Activity data was updated to reflect best available data for the NEI cycle. 35.2.8 Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands Emissions from Puerto Rico are calculated using the same method described above. For the U.S. Virgin Islands, emissions are calculated using 2010 population data, since NEI year Census Data does not exist for the U.S. Virgin Islands. 35.3 References 1. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2018. Advancing Sustainable Materials: 2015 Fact Sheet. Table 1. Generation, Recovery and Discards of Materials in MSW, 2015 (in millions of tons and percent of generation of each material). 2. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2011. Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Recycling, and Disposal in the United States: Facts and Figures for 2010—Fact Sheet, p. 4. 3. U.S. Census Bureau. Total Population, American Community Survey. 4. U.S. Census Bureau, Decennial Censuses, 2010 Census: Summary File 1. 5. Environment Canada. 2001. "Household Garbage Disposal and Burning." Prepared by Environics Research Group. 35-5 ------- United States Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards Publication No. EPA-454/R-23-001ii Environmental Protection Air Quality Assessment Division March 2023 Agency Research Triangle Park, NC ------- |